3 Rivers Venture Fair comes during drought in startup investment
-
Luke Panza stands near one of the promotional posters for No Wait, a company whose technologh helps local restaurants reach waiting customers. They presented at the 3 Rivers Venture Fair. -
Abby Estock and Luke Panza of NoWait work at their Uptown office. They will present at the 3 Rivers Venture Fair.
Share with others:
By the time NoWait CEO Robb Meyer made his way to PNC Park on Wednesday for the 3 Rivers Venture Fair, he was on his third attempt to woo investors in three cities over two days.
He flew to Pittsburgh shortly after presenting the company's app -- which helps restaurants reach patrons via text message -- to an angel investors group in New York. Mr. Meyer said meeting investors face-to-face during a time when funds available for startups seemed to be drying up was more than worth the two-day frantic rush.
PG VIDEO: 3 RIVERS VENTURE FAIR"You get a lot of broad exposure, there's a high probability of meeting the right people. The fact that there still are fairs, and people attend, shows that just because people are cautious, they're still interested in investing," he said.
Bringing together people who have ideas for the next big tech breakthrough and investors willing to bet their money on its success has proven to be critical during the down economy.
Several company CEOs attending this year's 3 Rivers Venture Fair, which kicked off at PNC Park's Lexus Club Wednesday and continues today, said finding venture capital funding has proven much more difficult this year than in past years, particularly in Pittsburgh.
"Inside Pittsburgh, people tend to be a little more cautious, go a little slower and want to do a little more research before investing," said Mr. Meyer.
He said his Oakland-based company raised $160,000 in January, which included $50,000 from local seed funding organization Innovation Works and $25,000 from its startup support arm, AlphaLab. The rest came from angel investors from throughout the country.
Peter DeComo, CEO of South Side-based artificial lung company ALung Technologies, noted the area's few venture capital firms are far outnumbered by local startups that could use their money.
First Published September 22, 2011 12:00 am
